Oregon - Day 1

We set out early Saturday morning about 2:30am. No waits at the border. Hardly any cars on the highway. And luckily, the rain hasn't quite started. It was pretty much smooth sailing. I didn't sleep at all till 2:30am. I was pretty wired.

Now, I felt like I was travelling first class. Bottled water was already set in my cup holder. Comfy leather seats. Snacks all prepared for me. And even a screen to watch DVDs. Allie popped in Enchanted, which I've watched a million times but still love watching it. The sound system was like the theatres. But even with all that stimulation, I was soon drifting into sleep. It was soon 4am. The rest of the ride was a blur.

We ended up at a fake Denny's in Portland for breakfast. Fake because there was a sign at the cash register stating that they are an independently running business. Which explains the non-American (not even Canadian Denny size) portions. They were pretty tiny. But, a little is enough for us anyway.

Then, off to the Oregon Coast we went.

We started off at Seaside. It was W-I-N-D-Y. People were looking up wind speed on their iphones. It turned out to be one of the windiest days of the month. Maxing at 93 km/hour. Store owners came out to put away their signs. Our hair was being whipped around once we stepped out of the car. Talk about getting some fresh air after a long car ride! We checked out some antique shops, bought some of their famous salt water taffy's, and walked down to the beach.

Of course, it was my brilliant idea to walk on the beach. We're here... we must go on the beach! Standing at the platform above the beach, you could already see the sand being thrown all over the place by the windstorm. But, down we went. I have to say.... it was quite the experience! The beach sand was wet from the previous rain, but the wind was bringing in all this dry sand from elsewhere... which created a light coloured sand cloud whooshing over the darker, wet beach. I'd have to post a video. Because the sight was amazing. Beautiful. I could have stood there all day watching the sand clouds whoosh by... but standing in the middle of it meant getting sand in my hair, my clothes, my ears, my nose, my eyes...

Allie and I were busting out laughing because the wind was so strong that it literally blew us off our feet and you could see the seagulls having troubles in flight and landing. All that laughing left our mouths filled with that sandy crunchiness. Once we got off the beach, we brushed ourselves off and poured out a fair amount of sand from our shoes.

Second stop, a talked-about view point for a fantastic view of the beach and the Haystack Rock. We parked our car at a parking lot and hiked down to the view point. The wind was worse. But we figured, at least there wasn't any sand. It was higher up. You could see everyone else leaving their cars at the parking lot and having trouble walking down. The wind was pushing them a few steps back each time. We stayed in the car for a while just watching other people walk. It was hilarious. What was more funny was the two men parked right next to us. They had opened their trunk to get something and was having the hardest time trying to close it. Two medium built men. Pushing down on their trunk door at the same time. To no avail. We could have gotten out to help... but we were too consumed in our laughter.

We did eventually venture out and tried to make our way down to the view point. Unfortunately, Gurm and I couldn't make it down. Because instead of sand... there were rocks. We were getting pelted and it hurt. Allie braved it all and made her way down... shouting from below, "It's really pretty! The view is beautiful!". Well, I could only imagine. I don't want a rock in my eye. The wind picked me off my feet on the walk back to the car. I nearly rammed myself into a pole. But all the while, Allie and I laughed hysterically. Like children. Because it was so. much. fun. Who needs Hawaiian sunshine? Oregon windstorms are just as memorable. Haha.

We made our way to Cannon Beach. We ate at a cozy tavern (there are a lot of taverns there!). Much needed food. (Not knowing that the weekend would turn into a string of food comas). I had the seafood stew. I was craving something warm. It was packed with the goodies - shrimp, fish... all in a yummy tomato broth. Mmm Mmm. So good. Allie had a black bean burrito. And Gurm a burger. Shared beers. We were totally satisfied. It was one of the best meals of the trip.

By the time we were done. It began to rain. No, correction. It poured. It really really poured. It was a bit miserable, but I was quite content just being outside. Being smarter this time, we only looked at the beach and the Haystack Rock from afar. Soon after, we decided to head back to town... downtown Portland... and check into our hotel.

We stayed at The Modera. It is an old Holiday Inn revamped into a chic and modern small luxury hotel. The staff and the service was excellent. We checked in around 4-5pm, and took quick showers to wash out all that sand. Once we were all clean and comfortable, we ventured out (back in the pouring rain) to find a good restaurant to eat at. The strange thing about downtown Portland in the winter is that it looks like ghost town. That is, there are a lot of cars parked on the street... but not a single person walking around. Once you enter a restaurant however, it's bustling. Maybe also because it's Valentine's weekend.

By this time, we were starving. And finding a restaurant with available seating was near impossible. We decided to wait an hour at one of the largest restaurants I've seen... quite popular. (Sorry, don't remember the name). After filling up on clams and bbq chicken, we went to visit the world's largest independent bookstore - Powell Book Store. Frankly, the outside looked dumpy. But upon stepping in, and seeing all the brand new and old books stacked up to the ceiling in endless rows of bookshelves... I was in heaven.

I could have spent a LOT of time in there but we went near closing time. Probably a good thing for me because I still managed to pick up three books. Allie wanted to check out the travel section (which was as big as probably a size of a starbucks coffee shop), and we spotted some really ancient travel books. That's what I love about this place. It as the old and the new, the common and the queer.. it has everything. These ancient travel books dated back to the 1870's! $90 a pop. Pretty cool.

We were done after that. Exhausted. We went back to the hotel. Planned our next day. Gurm droned himself to sleep with the TV. Allie researched things to do on the ipad. And I started to read one of the books I bought.

Then... lights out.